


Eiji Okumura, A Strong Boi

by weebtrashtbh



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Arm Wrestling, Gen, M/M, Memes, Swearing, almost hit by a car, i have no idea what im doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 06:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weebtrashtbh/pseuds/weebtrashtbh
Summary: Eiji is a lot stronger than everyone realizes.





	Eiji Okumura, A Strong Boi

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. This came to me while thinking about the training pole vaulters have to go through and how Eiji is a lot stronger than people give him credit for. Don't take this too seriously, just having a bit of fun! Thanks for reading!

It all started with Skipper. The day started like any other for Skip, he was walking with Eiji through Times Square, talking a mile a minute about Spiderman Homecoming. 

“Tom Holland is such a good Spiderman Eiji, you don’t understand! You have to watch the original Tobey Maguire movies to appreciate how good these new Spiderman movies are! I mean they’re not that good, they’re okay. But that’s what makes Homecoming so good!”

“I’ve been meaning to ask Skip, what is the meaning of Homecoming in the title? Is it someone literally returning home? Is Spiderman coming back from somewhere?” Eiji’s eyebrows furrowed together and his head tilts to the left.

Skip bursts into laughter, loud and bright and Eiji frowns a little at the boy’s outburst, “Skip, you’re picking up on Ash’s bad habits!”

“I’m sorry Eiji, I know you’re being serious but its just, asking if he’s coming back from somewhere-” Skip starts guffawing again. Eiji sighs but waits patiently until he’s done. “I’m sorry, okay I’m done. That was a good laugh Eiji! But no, Homecoming is generally a dance that happens during spirit week. In the movie’s title they’re referring to that dance.”

“I understand, so Spiderman is going to this dance then! Maybe we can watch it when we get back.” Eiji smiles as Skipper hits a closed fist in his palm.

“Eiji you’re a genius!” 

During their exchange, Skip ends up in front of Eiji instead of next to him, still talking excitedly all the while. Skipper raises his voice so Eiji can still hear him as he gestures wildly with his hands. He doesn’t notice when a few people have worked themselves between him and Eiji until he reaches the end of the block. Stepping off the curb, a few steps into the street, he turns his head to see Eiji pushing his way toward him. 

Skip’s ready to smile and tease him about being a tourist that can’t keep up in the crowd when Eiji glances to the left, face twisting with panic as shoves people aside. “Skip!”

Skipper turns his head and sees a car flying down the street. Oh shit he thinks, scrambling to backup out of the street. He ends up tripping on his shoe laces instead, falling on his ass fuck I’m gonna get hit by a car for not tying my shoes, holy shit. Then there are hands under his armpits lifting him up and up, until his feet can’t touch the ground, hauling him backwards until his back hits a strong chest.

The car speeds by seconds later and Skipper sees his scared reflection flash across the tinted windows. “Fucking asshole!” Is out of his mouth before he can even process what happened. He knows he definitely got a few looks for that though.

It takes him a moment to realize he’s still being held up against someone’s chest with strong arms and his feet still aren’t on the ground. He cranes his neck to see Eiji is the one holding him and that he’s staring after the car with a furious look on his face. He’s thinking I didn’t even know Eiji was capable of looking so angry, when Eiji turns to face him, the same look of fury still etched on his face. After a deep breath, Eiji’s face smooths out to something more neutral, he carefully puts Skipper down.

“Are you okay Skip?”

When his feet touch the ground, that’s the moment Skipper really processes what had just happened. He stepped into the street without looking, tripped over his own god damned shoelaces like a dumbass. Almost got hit by a car for his stupidity. It also hits him that that had been one Eiji Okamura’s ripped chest he had been pressed against, with stars in his eyes, Skip turns to fully face Eiji. 

“You’re so strong, what the fuck!!”

“Um.” The concern quickly drops from his face and Eiji turns really red, really fast. Skipper isn’t sure if that’s healthy. “I mean I was a pole vaulter in Japan and that requires considerable strength.” Eiji runs a hand through his hair looking down, embarrassed before his gaze snaps up and he glares at Skip. “Don’t try and change the subject! The person driving was in the wrong but you shouldn’t have just stopped in the middle of the street! And tie your shoes Skip, you have to be careful!”

Skip smiles sheepishly as Eiji continues to mother him, but he’s still a little mind blown at how Eiji lifted him like it was absolutely nothing. Skip knows he’s light but Eiji’s arms had been ripped; he’d never expected that Eiji was hiding that much muscle. The others would never believe him.

***

After Skipper came Sing. 

A few weeks later finds Sing and Eiji waiting for Shorter and Ash in Central Park. Ash and Eiji had previously been wandering around the park before heading back to their apartment when Shorter had texted Ash saying he was nearby with Sing, and he wanted to meet up. After finding each other, they all realized they were rather hungry. Eiji insisted they could head back to the apartment and he would cook for them, but Ash insisted he would rather have a hot dog than “choke on natto”. Ash and Shorter were currently getting their “American tofu dogs” for them while Eiji was watching Sing make bad life decisions.

“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Eiji skeptically calls up from the base of a tree while Sing climbs higher into the branches. 

“It’s fine! Stop worrying.” Sing jumps to another branch and looks down smugly.

Eiji rolls his eyes and mutters. “Maybe if you all stopped giving me a reason to worry so much…”

“Hey I can see Ash and Shorter from here! It looks like they’re waiting for the hot dogs now.” Eiji looks back up just in time to see Sing try readjust his foot and completely miss the branch, weight dropping onto nothing.

Sing screeches and Eiji loses about ten years of his life. “Sing!” Eiji runs forward, to stand directly underneath the branch where Sing is hanging on with one hand, feet too far from the main trunk to use as a perch to help pull himself up.

“Sing let go!”

“What the fuck do you mean let go!?”

“I’ll catch you!”

“With what? Your string bean arms??” Eiji grits his teeth at the blatant disrespect from someone younger than him again.

“Trust me! Or you can hang up there until Ash and Shorter get back!” Sick of his own shit that has gotten him into this mess Sing thinks, fuck it and lets go of the tree branch.

He promptly lands into Eiji’s arms with a whomp. Eiji is now holding him bridal style, smirking at him. “Told you I would catch you!”

Sing squeak out a tiny little “Fuck.” Because he honest to god did not think Eiji would be able to support his weight, especially after falling out of a tree. But here he is, in Eiji’s arms and he can feel the muscles Eiji’s baggy cardigans have been hiding. It hits Sing that he just fell out of a fucking tree into Eiji Okamura’s arms and he blushes to the root of his hair before he starts struggling in Eiji’s hold. 

Eiji puts him down laughing, and that’s how Shorter and Ash find them a few minutes later. Eiji laughing his ass off, while Sing is blushing and sulking, looking like a disgruntled cat. 

Glancing between the two with an amused smile, Shorter asks “What happened?”

As Eiji tries to catch his breath, Sing jumps to his feet “Nothing! Right Eiji, nothing ?” Sing knows Ash would kick his ass if he knew that Eiji had done something dangerous, like catch a person as they were falling out of a tree. Eiji could have been kicked in the face, caught him wrong, maybe broken a bone or something in the attempt. Holy shit I was very close to losing my life today.

Eiji wipes a tear from his eye, smile bright. “Right.”

Oh, thank fuck. Sing, looks down and avoids Ash’s narrowed eyes and Shorter’s smirk that screams I don’t fucking buy it. Honestly, Sing isn’t even sure if they would believe him if he told them Eiji had caught him in his arms like something out of a fairytale. He certainly wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that fifteen minutes ago. Goddam were those some nice arms though, the traitorous side of Sing’s brain thinks.

***   
Shorter was the next person to realize the strength Eiji’s baggy cardigans are hiding.

Ash was off checking up on some gangs on the upper East side and had asked Shorter to keep an eye on Eiji while he was gone. Not that it was something Ash really needed to ask Shorter to do. Eiji was sweet and he’d hate to see him get hurt for getting caught up with “the wrong crowd”. He figured bringing Eiji to Chang Dai would be a good change of pace for him to get him out of the house for a while and see other people beside Ash’s boys. He brought Sing along because when he mentioned he was going to pick up Eiji, Sing got very red very fast and what kind of brother figure would Shorter be if he didn’t torment the kid every now and then? He knew something had thrown Sing off since the day he had left him alone with Eiji in Central Park while he got food with Ash. He couldn’t fathom what could have happened to cause Sing to turn red at the drop of Eiji’s name but he was enjoying this cute side of the kid. 

By the time they had picked up Eiji and went back to Chinatown, it was getting close to Chang Dai’s closing time. They all hung out with Nadia for a while and helped her clean up for closing; once Chang Dai was officially cleaned up for the night, that’s when Shorter brought out the beer. Nadia let out a deep sigh.

“Where were you keeping that down here? You know what? Don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Just don’t break anything.” She waves at them before heading to the apartment upstairs. She must not have been actually annoyed since she let them keep the leftover food and tossed them a deck of cards from behind the register. 

Two hours later and Shorter was feeling pleasantly drunk but not gone. His face was flushed and he was laughing loudly but then again, when doesn’t he laugh loudly? Some distant part of his mind registers that Eiji is about as drunk as he is which is honestly surprising. Who knew he had such a high tolerance for alcohol? He expected Eiji to be too gone to function with the amount of alcohol he had consumed. However he forces himself to pay attention to the here and the now when he realizes it’s his turn.

Turning his gaze to Sing, he pushes his sunglasses further up his nose. “Sing...do you have any three’s?”

Sing, who is without a doubt the least sober person is in the room, despite only having two beers, says “You better like fucking fishing.”

Shorter leans back with a gasp, hand grasping at his chest, “Eiji do you hear the disrespect my son speaks to me with?”

Sing leans on his hand and somehow pouts even more than he already was when Eiji bursts out laughing.

“Shorter that sounds like, what is the saying. Ah! A personal problem. That sounds like a personal problem Shorter.” Eiji’s smile is much more teasing then it usually is, not unlike the angelic ones he unleashes. But wow is it getting hot in here and that smile is making his heart do flip-flops so maybe abort, abort mission. 

“Not you too Eiji! Betrayed by you, betrayed by my own son!” Shorter folds his arms and throws his head down on the table, accidentally scattering the cards on the table. “Top ten anime betrayals!” He yells into his arms, content to ignore the gymnastics his heart decided to do after witnessing Eiji’s smile.

Now Sing is the one to burst out laughing. “Where’s the big battle that comes after the betrayal huh? Because I think Eiji would stand a good chance of kicking your ass.”

Shorter lifts his head and leans his chin on his crossed forearms scoffing, “Yeah, right.”

“Excuse me?” Oh no, is Shorter’s first thought and fuck his eyes are pretty is the second one. Eiji is glaring fiercely at him and he’s not quite sure how to handle that information and Sing, the little shit he is, is watching the scene with a smug smile like it’s not his fault. Okay maybe it’s Shorter’s fault but he’s drinking and his brain to mouth filter has been shut off. And Eiji is just so cute and cuddly he can’t imagine him kicking anyone’s ass. Lookie there, his heart is trying to go for gold at the Olympics this year.

Shit, Eiji’s mouth is moving. Shorter squeaks out a little “What?” Before Eiji is leaning close to his face, index finger pointed at him like a weapon.

“You heard me! We’re arm wrestling, right here, right now!” 

Sing is absolutely cackling at the moment and Shorter has never actually felt so betrayed before. “My money’s on Eiji.” Sing somehow manages to get out in between all his laughing.

“I, uh, I mean we really don’t have to do that Eiji...” Shorter is really feeling caught between a rock and a hard place while Sing wheezes and Eiji glares.

“Are you trying to say he’s not even worth your time?” Sing provokes before Shorter kicks him under the table.

“Is that what you’re trying to say Shorter?” Fuck it, fine it’s not his fault, he refuses to be held responsible for this. Whatever this even is. He just wanted to play go fish and maybe have a heart attack over how cute Eiji is in peace. 

With a reluctant sigh, “No that’s not what I’m saying, let’s go for it.” And then Eiji is cheering and Sing is cleaning the cards off the table making room. Eiji takes off the knit sweater he had been wearing and rolls up the sleeves to the button down underneath. Oh is all that crosses Shorter’s mind as he gets a good look at Eiji’s arms. The button down is tight enough to make out the definition on his biceps.

Eiji slides into the seat across from Shorter, arm ready with a confident smile on his face. I’m so fucked, Shorter thinks sliding his palm into Eiji’s Do I have a forearm kink? They tightly grasp hands and Eiji squeezes, ”Are you ready to get your ass kicked Shorter?” 

Shorter flashes his own confident grin because there’s honestly no way in hell Eiji is going to win right now but he’s going to look so cute trying. “Bring it.”

“1, 2, 3...go!”

Shorter throws forth about half his strength when he realizes… Eiji isn’t budging. His brown eyes glance from their hands to Shorter’s sunglasses, smirking “Is that all you got?” Before almost slamming Shorter’s hand on the table.

It’s instinct that keeps his hand from immediately being slammed down, but now that his arm is being bent at such an awkward angle, he’s having trouble picking it back up under the force Eiji is exerting. Holy shit holy shit Shorter is so thankful that he’s wearing his sunglasses because he knows his eyes have to be popping out of his fucking head because what the fuck Eiji is so strong wh oh my god that’s hot. And his hand is promptly slammed on the table with that train of thought.

Shorter is sitting there in a bit of a daze while Sing and Eiji high five before he snaps himself out of it. “I demand a rematch!” He needs to know if Eiji is stronger than him when he’s using his full strength from the beginning and actually mentally prepared. 

“Don’t be a sore loser Shorter! I thought you said I couldn’t kick your ass.” How the fuck is Eiji’s smile so smug and so cute. It’s equal parts infuriating and endearing.

“I knew he could do it!” Sing looks akin to a proud parent. Interesting. Shorter files that information away for later. 

“I admit I was wrong, I underestimated you and I’m sorry Eiji. I shouldn’t have dismissed you like that.” Shorter takes off his sunglasses and gives his best puppy eyes. While he is legitimately sorry, he needs to know for science dammit, who is stronger. Eiji feels a little warm, both from the alcohol but also from the sincere apology that caught him off guard. 

“Oh um, it’s okay Shorter, I wasn’t actually mad or anything. We can have a rematch!” Smiling brightly, he wipes his hand on his pants before presenting it to Shorter.

I’ve been blessed by an angel, is Shorter’s passing thought before he’s fighting off Eiji’s strength once again. He’s ready for it this time though. Neither of them are giving any slack, and they’re left straining in the middle. Hands wavering slightly, but never going down too far one way or another before quickly shooting back up.

Sing is still standing to the side, now wearing Shorter’s sunglasses, “Kick his ass again Eiji!!”

Almost a if that gave him a surge of strength, Shorter can see Eiji’s forearm straining as he pushes Shorter’s hand closer and closer to the table. Shorter can feel a sweat drop roll down his temple as he finds himself in the same straining position as last time. With a deep breath Shorter pushes and manages to get Eiji into the position he has just been in. Eiji holds out for a while, arm shaking before he gives in and Shorter slams his hand onto the table. 

Out of breath and sweating Shorter locks eyes with Eiji, “Holy shit you’re so strong Eiji?? It’s been a while since one of the boys have pushed me this far and you beat me the first time!”

Eiji looks a weird mix between proud and pouting, as he crosses his arms mumbling “Rematch.”

“Wha--”

“I want a rematch!”

They end the night after Shorter is at four wins and three losses. Sing falls asleep in the middle of their epic battle, curled up in the corner with Shorter’s sunglasses still perched on his nose. By the time he carries Sing upstairs and gets Eiji to bed Shorter has learned several things. 1) Eiji Okumura will forever surprise him in the best of ways. 2) Sing is a piece of shit (though he guesses he already knew that) and 3) He might have a forearm kink and he will never admit aloud.


End file.
